Electronics > Beginners

E-ink matrix display

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Bambur:
I have been wondering if anyone has had some experience of e-ink matrix displays? They have started to attract my attention lately. Here http://e-ink.com/products/High_Res_Pearl.html are some mechanical specs. Is it possible to purchase such a display off some distributor? I could not find any myself.

Balaur:
You can easily buy replacement screens for popular ebook readers. They are quite expensive though.

I  had to replace my (damaged during transportation) reader screen for about 80$  :'( while you could buy the new Kindle for a bit more. You can find the screens on Alibaba, ebay and some other sources.

From what I could gather, these devices could be a bit tough to drive correctly. I had to upload in my reader a waveform file that corresponds to the batch number. It seems that the performances of each lot/batch are quite variable and it requires optimized settings (the waveforms file) that instructs the controller on the timings/shape of the control signals, etc to pilot the screen perfectly. Thankfully, some very nice people on some obscure boards provided the manufacturer files and applications to do that.

So, I reckon that it may be a bit unpleasant to buy a replacement screen and build some system around it. While you could do that, you may also buy a development/evaluation kit (there are some available, what costs  ???) or a hackable reader and play with it.

As an example, in a rare display of kindness and altruism, my PRS-505 reader is quite open: standard USB plug, accepts txt, epub, pdf. It is also quite hackable (very uncharacteristic for Sony). There is even an extended firmware made available by enthusiasts. So, it may be possible to develop your own applications for the device.

However, personally, I smell too much headaches in playing with epaper for my own pleasure. Maybe a bit later, when the options will be cheaper and nicer.

Bambur:
Thanks a lot for the reply and pointing out the sites, Balaur! Display controllers and waveforms... sounds very intriguing to me  ;)

Could anyone tell more please? Any part numbers? Datasheets if any of course?

tyblu:
Here's a dev board that uses an E-ink display:
http://www.crystalfontz.com/product/cfa910

Very nifty...

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